Canas de Senhorim is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the municipality (''

concelho Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal ...

'') of

Nelas Nelas () is a municipality located in the Centro Region of continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 14,037, in an area of 125.71 km². History Settlement of the territory of Nelas dates back to the settlement by Neolithic and Stone ...

, in the central sub-region of Dão-Lafões in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,509,Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
Census 2011 results according to the 2013 administrative division of Portugal in an area of 25.45 km².

History

A ''

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The ''Carta de Foral'', or simply ''Foral'', was a royal document in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (Council) and regulate its administration, borders and priv ...

'' (charter) was issued in April 1196 by King Sancho I, and later confirmed by King Manuel I that granted the region the status of municipality, including its one parish. Canas de Senhorim was a municipality by the 19th century, when the parish of Carvalhal Redondo was annexed. Eventually, its municipal status was extinguished on 9 December 1852; both the municipality of Canas de Senhorim and Senhorim, were included in the reconstituted municipality of Nelas. Fifteen months later, following the decree, the municipality was no more. Canas was elevated to the status of ''vila'' (''town'') with the passing of bill 15128, on 21 March 1928, at the same time that the civil parish of Santar received its status. For a better part of the 20th century, Canas de Senhorim was known for its persistent fight to restore its municipal status. A movement was formed to challenge Nelas's politicians authority, protesting through election boycotts, disruption of the rail service through the main town, and public demonstrations in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. On 3 July 2003, the

national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

approved motion to restore the regions status, but President Jorge Sampaio vetoed the decree a month later, provoking general outrage.

Geography

Within the parish are several localities, small hamlets or villages; these include: Caldas da Felgueira, Póvoa de Santo António, Urgeiriça and Vale de Madeiros.

References

{{authority control Freguesias of Nelas